When Big Companies Are Dead But Don’t Know It | Hacker News Reader

When Big Companies Are Dead But Don’t Know It

steveblank.com

62 pointsicey9 comments

Did anyone guess the name of this mysterious company ? Given that they're worth 4 billion today, I think they could be well known to some HN members.

Also, the part about "getting their technology written into legislation" aka regulatory capture aka monopoly ? Sounds completely legit guys !

Rovi, formerly Macrovision.

Just search for companies that have had Steve Blank as a board member.

I'd like to explicitly point out that Macrovision, engaged as it has been in copying restriction technology (even getting their standard to be required by law), probably meets the definition of "evil" for a lot of hacker types. I'm not really expressing an opinion here so much as spreading the cognitive dissonance; many people who like Steve Blank probably don't like Macrovision very much.

Wow, great catch. Additionally, the software business which was spun off became Flexera (InstallShield), who are one of the nastiest groups of folks I've ever tried to do business with.

"Microsoft fits this description. Their failures in multiple markets is no longer just a failure of management but a failure of board governance. (Hard to fix when the major shareholder is the lifelong friend of his handpicked replacement.)"

Strong and direct words, but I have to agree. What we see as outsiders is the acting of the CEO, but his actions are backed by the board and they are responsible for the direction of the company. Just wondering when the change of leader ship will come.

What are the fixes for this kind of failure scenario? (Bad CEO, and bad board)?

IMO, a previous employer was in this scenario. The CEO was not effective, and the board didn't replace him because of a combination of apathy and personal relationships.

Is it up to the shareholders to stir up the board?

Either the shareholders revolt, or the company slowly loses customers and talent.

It seems it's been a long time coming :(

From the related "Elephants Can Dance" post:

Over the last 35 years venture capital has funded nimble new entrants...who exist to exploit discontinuities in technology or customer behavior.

http://steveblank.com/2009/06/22/2392/

The key phrase to me is, "exploit discontinuities in technology or customer behavior." The shift to mp3 and downloaded music was exactly one of these. Current pains experienced by mobile users are the small cracks which will grow into the future fault lines whose shear energies can be tapped into.

This begs the age old question: How much capacity for change do we really have?

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